A comment on recent events
Posted on
January 13, 2019 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
The world's most-read Scottish politics website
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A tall tale
Wee Books
Video
Probably a robbery
Transphobia
The Sunday Mail hypocrites. They have caused all the mess with their lies. Lie after lie after lie. Just about every word they utter is a lie.
Brewer lying again.
David Lammy actually told the truth, for once. That’s a first among the unionists.
Listened to Corbyn and then Leslie Laird this morning – talk about playing to the gallery – wait and see – that is their answer – frightened rabbits is my response. No leadership or principles involved in labour just play to the gallery and the ukippers, utter disgrace.
Heard Lammy during the week only labour person I have ever heard in this whole debacle talking sense and he was advised by mp’s around him not to speak up – says it all.
The Craig Murray analysis of the shenanigans in the SG civil service is extremely damaging to the individuals involved.
I suspect this has some way to run, I hope Nicola is not implicated, but I can see her political problem with acting to sack them.
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Nicola cannot sack any Civil servant. Come to that neither can Mrs May. They are appointed to serve the Queen and her disposition of the Royal Perogative to Parliament.
The can only be sacked through internal Civil Service inquiry.
Nicola can say she has lost confidence in Ms Evans ,but that means nothing to the Civil Service. Margaret Beckett tried the same thing for Labour with no success.
We all post about the establishment and how they will try to subvert the SNP before another election. Here it is in action whether the charges against Alex are true or not.
Every dirty trick in the book and then some will be used to weaken the SNP position.
What they perhaps have not factored in is the determination of people to gain independence. Whether that comes from the SNP or not I don’t care. It is not about political parties. It is about our freedom. I will vote for any party with that objective.
I will however not rush to any judgement on Alex or Nicola. It is more likely than not an attempted smear bearing in mind the top of my post.
Nicola may be the vanguard in the fight,but the army behind her can fight just as well under any general should the establishment succeed in undermining her.
And they missed ‘the king’. And it looks as though it’ll be a costly miss for some.
A recording of a meeting between Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond has been released and here it is….
Hiya pal, Hello hen, Happy new Year,(NS) Aw same to you there’s a wee gift Alex for Christmas it’s just socks and stuff,(AS) I got you that chanel perfume stuff you like (NS) Thanks Alex so how’s the family (AS Aye fine hen
Well, could it not be that two folk who know each other for tons of years and are good pals just had a blether then said (NS) *We’d best not talk about all the other stuff because you know they’ll say we were colluding* (AS) *Absolutely Nic hen gae the bastirts nothing*
Prove different! Lawyers have conversations like that all the time without mentioning cases they might be opposing on
I thought I would live life on the edge this morning, so I decided to watch the Gordon Brewer programme. And afterwards I felt absolutely disgusting. I felt dirty and in immediate need of a shower.
Brewer and BBC Scotland really are the lowest form of life known to man.
The only good thing to come out of having the BBC in Scotland is that it reinforces the need for Scottish Independence.
It is completely reprehensible that harassment complaints appear to have been used for political purposes.
It is justice that much of the agenda and manoeuvrings has now been exposed. I now hope the failings of the civil service have minimal effect on the actual SG. However, this offers a whole new layer of opportunity to make mischief.
This still leaves the original complains having not been investigated competently or fairly. That doesn’t serve justice for anyone.
I did notice the first person to speak on TV in reply for the Civil Service was a Union representative
Strange? not strange?
Understood the king to be the would be king JC, however if it is AS – if you were a yoon who would you want to take out by any means, yes AS and if you could at the same time hit NS the happier they would be.
I hope this plays out to the end and shows the depths the yoons will go to to take out the opposition and point the finger to the real culprits already showing up, the civil service appointed by WM, the Daily Record in league with the yoons and shows in the end it was in the same league as the French Ambassador stitch up which was proved a lie but some still kept their heads.
Can’t help wondering what part was played by the Scotland Office.
what is the significance of this video? I dinnae gettit.
They may have missed the prime target, but, remember, these people probably still have stocks of magic bullets from the US.
According to The Sunday Herald today Ms Sturgeon did not attend the SNP’ NEC meeting yesterday.
According to the Express she did.
There in a nutshell is the MSM laid bare.
jezza says:
Indeed. There’s a tipping point where their propaganda, bias, and blatant behaviour does their own case more harm than good. It reinforces the views of those who have crossed the divide and offends those still on the fence. I think we may have passed that point. It reinforces the views of those who have crossed the divide and offends those still on the fence.
The double witch-hunt against Alec and Nicola will vanish on Tuesday, Looked at news headlines in the papers this morning nothing to report on Evansgate. The Press have got the message.
Yes. Yes they did.
You come at the at the King you best not miss. Brilliant comment. You surpassed yourself with this one. Partly makes up for no cairnstoon yesterday.
Bob Mack@11.57am
Spot on with your post. Voting for independence is not voting for a president or prime minister.
@Cubby
I imagine it would be difficult to come up with a germane Scottish politics cartoon at the moment without the lawyers vetoing it.
starlaw says:
13 January, 2019 at 12:27 pm
The double witch-hunt against Alec and Nicola will vanish on Tuesday, Looked at news headlines in the papers this morning nothing to report on Evansgate. The Press have got the message””
………
If you are talking about the English press then what you say may be true but the Scottish press, not so much. The Sunday Herald, for example, has several articles on the subject and at least one column – Mr McWhirter’s column which has several errors in it – all in the cause of making things seem worse than they are of course.
As to what will fill the papers up here after Tuesday’s vote in Westminster I would hazard a guess and say that story will be relegated to the inside pages. Some nonsense FOI by the LibDems will be on the front page.
The SNP Scottish Gov having to sort out the unionist mess as usual. What’s new.
The £1/2Million and more can easily be reclaim by suing any malicious civil servant acting illegally and the lying Press.
Go for it Alex. Get the fundraiser going.
The cops could be incriminated. Wasting time and Scottish taxpayers money on a wild goose chase. Unionists.
M15 infiltrating the Scottish Gov. Failing again. It will strengthen the SNP, the Scottish Gov and Independence.
The Tory/unionists going down on EU matters. Just like Thatcher.
Another one down, another one gone. Another one hits the dust.
@Legerwood
Thanks for that, I have made use of it 😎
Ian Brotherhood
I think you have another one for the SIU Burns night.
“If you come at the king you best not miss.”
@ Dr Jim says at 12:16 pm …. ”I did notice the first person to speak on TV in reply for the Civil Service was a Union representative. Strange? not strange?
Not strange Dr Jim. Ms Evans met up with the Civil Service Trade Union a couple of days ago. There was a photograph which showed them all sitting around a table with Evans, but I can’t find it now. Too bad as you may have been able to pick out the person in question.
link to twitter.com
Muscleguy@ 12.38pm
Fair point.
Oops there it is. Photograph Dr Jim.
link to twitter.com
Surely the press reports are all the fault of the Sunday National and the National!!!! lol
The Sunday Mail and Daily Record etc. are all wee innocents– pro brexit labour, pro brexit tory
The new procedure that was put in place that was so blatantly aiming for Alex Salmond it was laughable. That the complainants had to be encouraged to complain is not funny at all. If the FM could not see that or was, in fact, happy with that is concerning. Is she really saying she did not know Salmond would be the target? She may well be the unintended ‘victim’ or is it hoist by her own Petard?
It certainly appears to outsiders that the SNP are gunning for Salmond. If senior politicians are to be tried retrospectively under each new set of standards and procedures then surely this is corruption and means you can go after your political enemies by changing the rules long after they are out of office.
Of course, if the ‘me too’ campaign proved convenient for some who nursed long-held political grievances, that is even more reprehensible.
2014 = Project Fear.
2019 = Project Smear?
The Herald desperately trying to use this case to bring down Nicola…it is actually hilarious to witness.
That is not to defer from its seriousness, of course, as it shows the WM establishment and their pet media will stop at nothing to harm the indy cause, because, make no mistake, that is what this is about, it is what EVERYTHING they do is about.
It is also a clear indication of their desperation levels.
In the real world, Alex Salmond has delivered a hammer blow to the perceived integrity of the civil service in Scotland.
The media can try paint it as Salmond v Sturgeon, but the Scottish people are too savvy for that pash. Well…the majority of Scots anyway.
Someone on here said it well the other week, if we (Yes) are polling around 50%, then No campaign needs EVERY Don’t Know to vote No, just to have a chance of winning.
That ain’t a credible prospect, so as we sit, No is a busted argument, ready to be flushed away.
It seems that the WM unionist establishment now think that, only bringing down the entire SNP Government will save their union.
To try that though, means ever more ridiculous and hysterical arguments, smears and lies.
That might work on the diehard 30% of unionist who will never ever vote Yes, but if you are already a Dont Know, you are already indicating you have the capacity to listen to the Yes argument with an open mind.
When you as a DK, read the endless tropes of tripe about the AS case, you might just object to unionists insulting your intelligence, and that may swing you to Yes, on that point alone (if they can lie about that, what else can they lie about, sort of thing).
All this and we have not even started in earnest yet, politically.
As i said before, we ARE winning.
Clearly BBC Scotland’s Ministry of Truth excelled itself today.
Lesley Laird was sat on a couch with fluffed up beige cushions and, heavily edited by The BBC Propaganda stockade,was ‘interviewed’ by Hang On A Minute Just To Be Clear What You Are Saying Is ‘Shedload of Powers’ coming to Scotland after Brexit Labour Man Gordon Brewer.
It was clear that his ‘questions’ were edited into the hand wringing stumbling taped bumblefest that was the Shadow SoS for Scotland’s rambling replies.
No Yes buts, hang on a minutes from the Brewdog.
There were no interruptions, just a waffling nervous gibbering about clarifying the process from Labour’s 2017 Conference, Keir Starmer’s ‘six tests’ which were apparently based on May’s Lancaster House speech and ‘what Jeremy said’ mince.
This lass clearly is not cut out for speaking in public, hence the BBC ‘remastering’ her car crash interview.
Marr had 75 year Old Vince Post Office Sell Off Cable on, and Stephen Barclay, the third and most abject Brexit minister, and old wheezing chuckling Jeremy on, who, like that Dick Leonard on GMS Radio Jordanhill,didn’t have a clue what the Rd Tories policy was going to be in the upcoming UK GE: Brexit, Revoke A 50, or Norway Plus Plus?
This man hasn’t a clue, and is dangerous because of his quite blatant ineptitude. He’s 71 and the microphone picked up his wheeziness as he laughed in Marr’s face. Andrew Marr, proud Scot, who couldn’t find time on his wee Propaganda broadcast for a representative of the third biggest WM Party the SNP.
Some guy called ‘Moray MacDonald PR Executive’, and Angela Haggerty ‘Journalist’, and Andrew Tickell waffled nonsense about Brexit and indulged in a bit of AleckSammon Sex Pest trivia.
Were Tom Gordon, Paul Hutcheon, and David Clegg, regulars on Brewer’s Droop not available? He might have asked them to name their sources in the Civil Service?
And thatwould never do; the Polis might come knocking on their doors yet.
Does Westminster not realise what they did to AS increased the YES side.
Jack collatin– agree. Sums up well our so called democracy and “free” press.
Galamcennalath@12.14pm
“This still leaves the original complaints having not been investigated competently or fairly”
Were the complaints not investigated under the original process and no further action was taken? What was wrong with the previous process?
The trouble with the media in Scotland is that they are all just interested in media smear SNP bad/ Scotgov bad and no proper forensic analysis of the facts.
So what was changed in the new process to allow a retrospective review.
How is McKinnon not under greater scrutiny for her role. What was her motivation? It all kicks off when she joins the civil service from the police. McKinnon ” tainted by bias”.
You should never underestimate how many Britnats hate Salmond and Sturgeon and how strong the hatred is.
I was actually surprised that BBC Scotland didn’t put in their famous “anti SNP two second time delay” when Brewer interviewed Ian Blackford MP, who was way up there in the remoteness of the Isle of Skye.
How’s that SNP civil war coming along? Has it been covered up?
BBC Scotland simply don’t care. Their task is always to support the Unionist masters in London. If we keep rejecting independence they just carry on as usual.
And if we vote for independence they will be kick out so they have nothing to lose.
End of.
Excellent post.
As I said the other day, I do sincerely hope Mr. Salmond takes the whole rotten stinking corrupted civil service cabal, and ANY others, including the media, to the f****** cleaners. Every last filthy stinking lying toad, involved in this blatant smear attempt.
Richard Branson, when his fledgling and very small Virgin Atlantic airline was being systematically destroyed by underhanded ‘dirty tricks’ perpetrated by BA, asked Freddie Laker what to do. Laker’s advice? simple, ‘Sue the bas****s’.
Robert Burns was right, for London’s gold they are bought and sold, such a parcel of rogues in a nation. Watch, as they squeal like pigs, just like liar Carmichael.
Cubby says:
Good point. Because the second process was a resign which specifically looked like a plot to attack AS.
However, the complainers did want to have a second go. Were they unhappy with the first process? Was pressure put on them? How do they feel about the second process being a shambles and stinking of political motivation?
They and their complaints have not been handled properly.
Nicola Sturgeon has referred herself to the Independent advisers panel for questioning
The game’s afoot
@ ScottishPsyche says at 1:03 pm …. ”The new procedure that was put in place that was so blatantly aiming for Alex Salmond it was laughable. That the complainants had to be encouraged to complain is not funny at all. If the FM could not see that or was, in fact, happy with that is concerning. Is she really saying she did not know Salmond would be the target?”
See it? Happy with that?
You don’t seem to be ”keeping up” SP. Nicola Sturgeon had no knowledge of any misdemeanors carried out by Alex Salmond in 2013 or otherwise, and in fact was not aware of the ”allegations” until April 2018.
Her role in it all was signing off amendments made to the Harassment Policy in January 2018 with no idea that they had been targeting … ”blatantly aiming for” … Alex at least from August 2017.
@Jack Collatin (1.11) –
🙂 🙂 🙂
Top quality stuff there sah!
You should do a weekly review of FMQs and get it published in The National.
‘The only good thing to come out of having the BBC in Scotland is that it reinforces the need for Scottish Independence.’
Jezza @ 12.13
Well said.
Another one for the A6 or Poster handouts?
BBC – a reason for Independence
Petra
Do you honestly believe that?
It beggars belief that she signed off on a new set of procedures specifically designed to look retrospectively at senior politicians in Holyrood and she didn’t know Salmond was in the firing line. If as it seems every hack and SPAD was aware and has been spreading rumours for years and she was unaware of even that, how out of touch has she become?
I was aware and I’m not even anything to do with the SNP or Holyrood. That I chose not to believe them is another matter.
Edgy. But that is the situation we are in.
@ ScottishPsyche – where do you get the information that “every hack and SPAD was aware and has been spreading rumours for years”?
If there were complaints in 2013 don’t you think the MSM would run riot with them in the run up to the Independence Referendum? Don’t you think his hostile biographer, David Torrance, would have gleefully mentioned it in his biography just before the referendum?
The fact hat Nicola Sturgeon appears to have been unaware of these rumours suggests that they didn’t exist – until after Leslie Evans changed the procedure so that former ministers could be investigated retrospectively. That was in December 2017. Alex Salmond allegations were then made in January 2018.
NS self referral first thing on BBC Radio 2 3 o’clock news.
@ Capella
Where do I get this info? Where does anyone hear rumours, through people I know and speak to in Edinburgh and Glasgow who have political and publishing connections.
That is the point, they are rumours. It is malicious gossip, but it has been given a platform with these new procedures. I repeat I choose not to believe a lot of the stuff about all sides of the political debate but to say it does not exist is naive.
The FM said she was not aware of the ‘specific’ allegations. That was all she needed to say.
Galamacenalath @1.53 pm
If the complainants (not victims until proven so in a court of law) are genuine then they are in another way victims of the Britnats need for smears and vicious politics and have been used. Appalling behaviour by the Civil servants involved.
As I understand it part of the change of the process was to be able to retrospectively address Scotgov ministers. NOT CIVIL SERVICE Senior Managers. Now that really sound like targeting. Why not include the Civil Service – protecting their own.
This is undoubtedly a plot facilitated by the Britnats in the Civil Service – imo – the only matter outstanding is the complainants complaints – true or false. We await the police. Again the police are deliberately dragging this out.
Are the Civil servants really that incompetent or as the judge said tainted by bias. I go with the judge. Either way they should no longer be serving in their jobs – as a minimum they should be suspended.
@ ScottishPsyche – do you not think that, if there were people making allegations about Alec Salmond in 2013/14, the media would have made sure it was trumpeted long and loud?
Don’t you think David Torrance would have hinted at it in his hostile biography?
I was amazed in 2014 that the press couldn’t come up with any smear against Alec Salmond and Nicola Sturgoen. I concluded that they were both squeaky clean.
Of course, that doesn’t prove innocence. But it does suggest that this is a fabricated smear campaign, timed to coincide with the BREXIT endgame and the Indyref2 which is certain to follow. IMO
@scottishpsyche
Imagine for a second that the FM had refused to sign off on the procedure, and then this contrived affair had later come to the fore. Just think for a second about how that would have looked.
These kind of WM character assasinations are not single level, but multi faceted. The very fact that we are in a position where the establishment is so desperate as to be clinging onto such a flawed attempt is testament to the political tenacity of both the FM and Alex Salmond.
Look I get it – lots of people here think the FM has done nothing wrong. I happen to think she hasn’t dealt with things well in her need to appear neutral.
Either she didn’t think the process through or once it became clear she realised she had signed off on a flawed process, she could not back down.
The meetings, if they were to deal with SNP matters could have been overseen by other senior SNP Officers surely, and she could have recused herself. She made it clear she was not just happy but enthusiastic about going after ‘me too’ offenders.
She is usually cautious and fair -I don’t think she was either here.
Remember the original complaints had been dealt with. I agree the whole thing seems to have been contrived, but in her need to appear on the side of anyone male or female who makes a complaint, was it in anyone’s interest to devise a process revisiting old complaints especially where the whole point seemed to catch one person?
Total stitch up by Civil Servants. Why? Remember they thought that their verdict could not be challenged by Mr Salmond.
They never expected Alex to apply for a judicial review into their procedures which found him guilty.
They thought they had him bang to rights with no ability to challenge their decision. They know better now.
Well,I have spent a lot of time on this issue because it is important, for Scotland and Indy.
Looking at what is coming out and trying to consider the eventual outcome of it all.
So here is my opinion for what it is worth.
1 Nicola made a mistake in trusting the what she was told by Evans,and the her trust seems to have been unjustified,but was following protocol, another mistake unfortunately.
She was following the “practice” of choosing the candidate for the post ( Evans) By a UK impartial, entity of which there is no such thing.
3 The very fact that the civil service is under the wing of the Queen should have lit a light, where more caution should have been taken. As it is in her, and her governments interest to harm the Scottish Government in favour of Westminster.
4 Alex was right this WAS an effort to discredit him and Nicola by proxy.
5 I see in many places that some are saying Nicola should resign, I personally do not think so, as it seems she was bound by the circumstances of it all.
6 Should she say she has had enough and did resign, then the Britnats and their Westminster government will be estatic.
7 In that event they maybe should be careful of what they wish for.
8 Independence is bigger than that, people will take it as a UK stitch up, Indy will rise higher.
9 Alex will rejoin the SNP and will stand for leadership should Nicola resign(I hope not], if this does happens he will win hands down and will become Westminster’s biggest threat as he leads us to independence.
Alex is out and out Indy, and Wesminster fears him so he is the right man for the job.
These are what I can see happening.
Here is my take on this. I am a lifetime member of the SNP.
Since Nicola took over there has been a level of control freakery which worries me. I like Nicola and think she is streets ahead of most politicions. However she seems to let people fall on their collective swords too often. Michelle Thomson, Natalie McGarry, Grouse Beater, Alex Salmond at.al.
Where is the loyalty when people need support? I get the whole remaining neutral philosophy, but what happened to friendship and comradeship.
I personally think Salmond has been a naughty boy, but we all knew that. He hasn’t actually committed any illegal acts. I trust that he is telling the truth. Does Nicola?
Surely a man like Salmond who is a God to all of us. Should be treated like a brother when the knives are out and not cast out.
I think Sturgeon defending the civil servants for the sake of it. Again makes me question her judgement.
As far as Indy ref 2 goes. I again think she could have played it better. She has got herself into a trap of waiting on the Tories elastic timetable before making a move. When Patrick Harvie asked her in parliament months ago to get on with it. She curtly said:’ Well go out and campaign for it” utter nonsense , the yes movement have never stopped!!
We are waiting on a date. We can’t train for a marathon and never race. It gets tiresome, demotivating and pointless.
There is more going on in Westminster driving independence than there is at Holyrood.
I know plenty who feel like me. We are utterly underwhelmed and uninspired.
There is no fire in the belly of the SNP leadership.
big jock
a lot said there. Why not wait for the facts?
As for an Independence we can vote when the time is right. We are near but not quite.
Hamish. The fact is the civil servants were in the wrong and Nicola tried to defend them. The rest of it is unknown. I think she should have come out and said that these civil servants were in the wrong right away. The delay means the media can make hay.
Bob Mack says:
13 January, 2019 at 11:57 am
“Nicola can say she has lost confidence in Ms Evans ,but that means nothing to the Civil Service.”
Who cares what it means to the Civil Service?
Nicola is a gutless Establishment lawyer who can never stand up to Westminster and the British Establishment.
I suspect the opposition are going to go flat out for an inquiry which Sturgeon will reluctantly grant, and the opposition will not be delighted with the result.
They’ve cooked their goose, now they’re going to have to lie in it.
Pass the orange. I think I’m mixing my metaphors and menu, ooh, nasty.